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tv   MSNBC Live  MSNBC  September 27, 2012 8:00am-9:00am PDT

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middle class secure again. >> but as he trails in the polls can romney convince voters that he cares about all of them? even now after that emphasis caught on tape fumble about the 47%? >> i've been across this country, my heartaches for the people i've seen. we have people that are hurting. we have people who are disabled and people who are poor. they need our help. and they receive our help. we're a charitable people. >> very clear in ohio and with that ad that straight to camera advertisement that they realize how devastating that 47% videotape was because what he's now trying to communicate is this compassion. he's really changed his message in the last 48 hours. >> it's about who the republicans are in washington. >> that would mean -- >> really radical message that that romney is saddled with and he can't get out of the it. >> join meg now is florida congressman debbie wasserman schultz chair. congresswoman, it's great to see you this morning. the latest polling is show that
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president obama is ahead, anywhere from five to eight points in virginia. that's where the two candidates will be today. romney is writing off all the battleground polling putting the president in the lead. he did so specifically yesterday on abc. take a listen. >> i'm very please wtd some polls. less so with other polls. but frankly at this early stage, polls go up, polls go down. i don't expect to get 100% of the vote. i know i'm not going to bet 100%. i hope to get 50 plus percent and make sure that i become the next president. >> as we look at this realistically, 40 days to go, we have gallup daily tracking putting romney within four points of the margin of error. the romney campaign and the republican super pacs have only just begun unleashing its ma massive campaign cash. can romney use the debates, use all of that money in reserve to reverse his fortunes going forward? >> well, we don't put much stock in polls, good or bad, at this point, particularly 40 days out. we are coming in to the debater
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isries in which we know that americans really start to focus more in a more laser like way on the choice that they have in front of them, mr. romney is an experienced debater, particularly with more recent experience. and what we are focused on, thomas, though, are things like the fact that early voting starts in iowa today and that there's still an opportunity to get registered to vote and we encourage people to go to gottoregister.com so that they can get themselves signed up to register to vote and make sure that they can weigh in on this very clear choice that we have in front of us 40 days from now. >> you make a great point. iowa is the first swing state. . started at 9:00 a.m. eastern. i know that president obama spoke to the des moines register, saying, there isn't a state that is better informed about politics, talking about iowa specifically. mitt romney though finally touting his massachusetts health care law as he tries to make the case that he is a compassionate,
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conservative, just like george w. bush. take a listen to this interview he gave to nbc's ron allen yesterday. >> throughout this campaign, as well, we've talked about my record in massachusetts. don't forget, i got everybody in my state insured. 100% of the kids in our state have health insurance. i don't think there's anything that shows more i'm pat think and care about the people of this country than that kind of record. >> as chuck todd point i'd out this morning the question really wasn't specifically about health care, it was about compassion and empathy and he interjected his record for massachusetts and health care and what they were able to accomplish there. can mitt romney turn his health care plan into an advantage now especially since they've been trying to distance themselves from that all along? >> well, i think there's some irony in the fact that mitt romney briefly mentions his role in passing health care reform in massachusetts when the first thing he pledged to do if he were to become president of the united states is repeal obama care and roll back all of those same provisions for americans.
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there are millions of americans who have benefited and now have health insurance who didn't before, thanks to obama care. the young adults who can stay on their parents insurance until they're 26, seniors who are saving an average of $600 on their prescription drugs thanks to obama care, closing the doughnut hole. and the first thing that mitt romney would do is the incredibly compassionate thing of repealing all of those reforms and leaving seniors and children and young adults in a situation where their health care is prohibitively expensive and if you have a pre-existing condition you can be dropped by insurance companies once again. >> it is a little bit of a whiplash factor to figure out, is it an advantage or disadvantage, talking about it or not talk about it. i do want to speak though and get your, pert background about the two big factors in your home state, senior vote and jewish vote. when it comes to medicare, the fight is not even close. in all of these states, the voters favor the president's
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approach on this. but on the question of israel, prime minister benjamin netanyahu addressing the u.n. today an he's been very hard on the president. "the new york times" also today saying the republicans are planning to make a big play for the jewish vote. would the angst of jewish voter on the question of iran put the jewish vote into play? >> if you look at the gallop poll of jewish voters, president obama is about 70% in the question of which candidate jewish voters are likely to vote for in the election were to the t and that's ahead of what they were in the election in 2008. that's because, thomas, one thing is that on domestic issues, whether it's making investments in education, health care, research, head start, civil work, standing up for people who have no voice. sh a very important season for jus and a time in which we focus on the importance to repairing
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the world, mitt romney and the republicans are wrong on every issue that matters to jus domestically and we are making sure that jewish voters understand that president obama has a stellar record on israel. an, in fact, i would just push back a little bit and say that p.m. netanyahu and president obama have a very close working relationship, that they meet and talk regularly and they have on k consistently said that he stood by president obama. i think the record is very clear and there are israeli leaders across the political spectrum in israel who has consistently said that israel has no greater friend than president obama. >> they would take any vulnerability. >> i think what they're doing -- >> obama was able to take 78% of that vote. >> it was more like 74% of the vote, but i believe strongly. i'm confident that jewish voters will overwhelmingly support the president because of the issues
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that are important to jewish voter s do mess tickically and because of his incredibly strong record in israel. as first jewish woman to represent florida in congress i take my love of israel to work with me every single day and i'm very proud to support this president because of his incredible record on israel and consistently having israel's back and i think my constituents in south florida as well as jus across the country will be there for president obama as well for both of those reasons. >> congresswoman, thanks so much. we always support fellow around here. i tell you happy birthday. we do support libras. >> thank you. we bring in our power panel. political reporter for the "washington post." phil richardson is is the former governor of new mexico and before that the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. and republican strategist alice. it's great to have all three of you here. both the candidates busy day in virginia today, this hour president obama is scheduled to speak at a rally of about 20,000
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in virginia beach at an amphitheater there. that being one of the largest military communities in the country. at the same time, mitt romney is going to address vets at an american legion post in springfield. romney still has this huge money advantage, so how does he turn this thing around to make it worth his while with all that cash in reserves, can he be able to pull through in virginia and take it on to other places like north carolina? >> well, i think one of the things you see them doing already is doing the more direct ads. of course he had that ad where he's looking directly at the camera talking out his empathy, casting himself as a compassi compassionate person. i think you will obviously see that. and there are obviously looking at the debates as well as a real chance to clarify their positions. they feel like president obama and democrats have really run an inaccurate campaign and they feel like the debates will be their first chance to really go one-on-one and really point up the contrast, make this a
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referendum. the question will be will these debates matter that much. as you said, they've got a ton of money they can spend in the swing states. i think one of the problems is are they going to be able to say anything differently than they've already said? they've been up with ads in some of the swing states already. hasn't made much of a difference. and you feel like in some ways mitt romney still believes it's the early stages and they haven't necessarily hit the panic button yet and they might want to start looking at doing that in boston. >> meanwhile, as you bring up that ad for mitt romney, we have the dnc out with a new ad today using romney's own words against him. let's take a look. >> too many americans are struggling to find work in today's economy. i like being able to fire people. too many of those who are working are living paycheck to paycheck. i tell you what, 10,000 bucks? >> that's quite a match-up that we're watching there. the back and forth of romney's own words being used against him in his first campaign ad where he's directly looking into the
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voters' ice aeyes and now the governor is touting the fact he was i'm thet tiempathetic to hi. this is something they haven't heralded but something they distanced themselves for because of hatheir disdain for obama ca. >> i think he's trying to move to the center and it's basically too late. and it's also not working. i mean, the most devastating quote is this one about he's proud about insuring every kid in massachusetts, when he's against obama care, when he's railed against the entire health care plan of the president. i think he's only hope right now, and i still think it's going to be very close, the debates. challengers do well in debates. i think governor romney's a good debater. he'll probably pick up a little bit from the debates. but i see that as his only
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chance. now, what he has to avoid t in the debates is a danger of a miscue in the foreign policy area because he doesn't have any experience there. you know, mispronouncing the name of a country, of a leader, getting a conflict wrong. but i see the debates as probably his last ditch hope. >> the hurdles are going to be higher, the heat is going to be hotter. it's the first one on october 3rd, less than a week away. alice, one of the late night shows is having a little fun at mitt romney's direct to camera ad. let's take a look. >> the ad is called too many americans. and the goal seems to be to show that romney does indeed care about americans who are struggling financially. and he does a pretty good job with it. >> too many americans are struggling to find work in today's economy. too many of those who are working are living paycheck to paycheck. more americans are living in poverty than when president obama took office. and 15 million more are on food stamps. my plan will create 12 million
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new jobs over the next four years. >> so alice, instead of trying to make people see that he feels their pain, if you were advising mitt romney, do you think that he should proudly pick up that lobster and say, if you want to be rich like me, vote for me, because i can get you there, i've got the plan to do it? >> well, that was certainly a scale, but i think if i were advising the romney campaign i would encourage them to continue what they're doing, which is focusing on jobs and the economy. and stressing his plan all along has been a plan for middle class. and creating jobs for this country, focusing on energy, independent skills that will allow people to succeed, a trade that works for america, deficit reducti reduction, and being a champion for small business, which is not what the president has done. and as we get in the debates it will be critical to show the contrast between governor romney and the president. the good thing is wasserman schultz down played the president's expectations as expected by the democrats, but he is the gifted speaker.
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the problem is, he does not have the gift of a positive record to run on. the economy is in the toilet and t current news we have on informed policy is troubling. the administration knew this was a terrorist attack within the first 24 hours yet they continue to say this is the result of a video in a movie trailer, put ambassador rice out there being extremely dishonest with the american people. that's troubling. and those troops will come out in the debates. >> alice, we've gone to war with countries saying they were responsible for nerch when they really weren't. i'm talking about iraq. give the white house a little leeway here on figuring out exactly what's what to go with the facts. thursday power panel, thank you. we're going to have the governor to stick around because we're going to be talking to you about libya and the situation it's going on with the white house right now. foreign policy, that is. domestically, the impact of it and prime minister benjamin netanyahu is scheduled to give a tough speech on iran in the next hour, setting a clear red line. is he trying to back the
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president into a corner? plus, good call. nfl referees back on the field tonight for the cleveland browns. baltimore ravens game. what do you think about their labor deal? one thing that i have learned this morning, you do not tease chris jansing about the cleveland browns. don't ever do it. tweet me at. key r ole throughout our lives. one a day women's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. it has more of 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day 50+.
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oh, hey alex. just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here. hey, good call on those mugs. can't let 'em see what you're drinking. you know, i'm glad we're both running a nice, clean race. no need to get nasty. here's your "honk if you had an affair with taylor" yard sign. looks good. [ male announcer ] fedex office. now save 50% on banners. [ male announcer ] fedex office. what do we do when something really wants to be painted? we break out new behr ultra with stain-blocker from the home depot... ...the best selling paint and primer in one
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within the hour, benjamin netanyahu will speak before the united nations general assembly. he will set a clear red line. richardson is the former governor of new mexico and before that, the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. sir, it's good to have you stick around with us. senior israeli official said this to the media as the p.m. travelled to new york for the u.n. meeting.
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netanyahu will set a clear read line. obama's remarks. obama said iran won't have nuclear weapons. the prime minister will clarify the way in which iran won't have nuclear arms. now, netanyahu is also expected, sir, to warn the time for diplomacy with tehran is not unlimited. where do you think that the white house can go from here especially when we would most americans would prefer to see all this handled on a diplomatic front? >> well, i think the president in his u.n. speech a couple days ago was very clear. we're not going to permit iran to get nuclear weapons. we're going to do it through continued very crippling sanctions with other nations, with europeans diplomatically, pursue negotiations although they're not working. i think recently the president announced a d listing of iranian opposition group which is very popular around the world and here in the u.s. i think the president's record
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is very strong and associating himself with a positive side of the arab spring but at the same time responding very tough against terrorism, al qaeda, decimated al qaeda, he got bin laden. so i think it's a situation in the middle east where the tension is palpable but the president responded accurately. >> right now he moved to the strictest sanctions imposed on that country. one thing the president has been getting a lot of grief about is getting the meetings of world leaders with the secretary of state hillary clinton with this u.n. general assembly visit. not meeting with one world leader at that time. do you think the president passed up an opportunity to meet eye too eye? we know the phone calls happened behind the scenes and we know there is leader shich wiship wi perception being a reality. >> i was u.n. ambassador. i accompanied president clinton
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when he had meetings at the u.n. at the u.n., you don't have to have one-on-one bilaterals. you see all of these leaders at lunches, at receptions, at dinners. he has talked to the leaders recently that he needs to, prime minister netanyahu, karzai of afghanistan, the pakistanis, the middle east, the european leaders. you know, this is a very weak kind of accusation. secretary of state clinton speaks for the president. she's a very strong and power phil s ful secretary of state. i've been here at the u.n. the last few days complaining about mo meetings with secretary clinton. i think it's a misguided criticism. this is politics.
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and unfortunately some of this criticism on libya, on the arab spring, on what happened with the ambassador has never happened before. it's really gotten partisan -- >> where does america go with the libya situation though? what will americans tolerate know that our ambassador was assassinated in that con consulate there and the white house coming out and corn firm that they do believe it was a terrorist attack? >> we have to respond. we have to respond to that terrorist attack. and if it takes force, we do it. we try to find who's responsible. and i think the other option is libyan justice but my view is that it's important that the u.s. find these perpetrators. president and this administration have been very good and successful in finding terrorists, in decimating al qaeda, in afghanistan and all around the world. i think once again, use the intelligent resources that we have and respond. and that's what we need to do.
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>> former governor of new mexico, bill richardson. sir, great to have you year. >> congratulations on your upcoming wednesdaying. >> saturday. >> i don't want you to work on saturday here. >> thank you. i have tomorrow off as well. i will be biting my nails after this show until then. thank you, sir. so a crucial decision could come today on pennsylvania's controversial voter id law. witnesses testifying right now about the hurdles and the hoops that they've had to jump through in order to get valid id. will that law get tossed? we'll explore that and much more after this.
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welcome back. right now we're keeping a close eye on pennsylvania courtroom where lawyers are challenging the state's controversial voter id law. nine witnesses are testifying about their difficult experiences in trying to get a state-issued photo id. the law's opponents hope to convince the judge to stop the law from taking effect before november. state officials argue the number of people who don't have a
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well, if itmr. margin?margin. don't be modest, bob. you found a better way to pack a bowling ball. that was ups. and who called ups? you did, bob. i just asked a question. it takes a long time to pack a bowling ball. the last guy pitched more ball packers. but you... you consulted ups. you found a better way. that's logistics. that's margin. find out what else ups knows. i'll do that. you're on a roll.
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that's funny. i wasn't being funny, bob. i know. moments from now we will see the two presidential candidates to duke it out in the second day straight in the same battleground state. they have competing appearances in virginia just over 200 miles away from each other and both romney and ryan are reunited. does it feel so good? "the new york times" says the two men will share the main stage a lot more over the next few weeks. but is that creating a strain within their campaign ticket? recent comments seem to suggest just that. >> i'm the guy run for president, not him. wow. that's quite a guy, isn't it? paul ryan, isn't that something? wait a second. wait a second. romney/ryan. romney/ryan. there you go. >> governor romney says that 47% of americans will vote for
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president obama because they are dependent on the government. this has sparked a lot of reaction obviously. what did he really mean by that? >> yes. he was obviously inarticulate at making this point. >> joining me in studio is msnbc contributor and daily beast columnist meghan mccain and son of the former president reagan. meghan, politico columnist wrote a satire call piece about romney and ryan and spoke to my colleague jansing. >> paul ryan is treated like a surrogate. he doesn't get to choose his own staff. he has a staff loyal to mitt romney around him every minute. he is told what to say and told what to do. that's fine as long as romney is winning. but romney is not winning. he's losing. and that unleashes the presidential candidate to act in
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his or her own way to unleash sarah palin to start attacking barack obama more. >> so meghan, as we all know. your dad certainly dealt with tensions within the ticket of himself, sarah palin, for any of these candidates, though, behind the scenes there is ego, ambition, and the perception of what the voters see. do you think there is a behind the scenes strain that's going on because, as we also mentioned, the fact that congressman ryan is still running for his same seat. he has a good safety net if things don't go well as role for vice president. >> first of all that gentleman from politico wrote a satirecal article. they would not ever do that. second of all, i think there's a really obnoxious president precedent that is being set that all running mates are going to go rogue. which has been set with this sort of game change narrative that people expect republican candidates now to have inviting. it's ridiculous. it's side the beltway b.s. as far as i'm concerned and from everything i know, i'm good
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prends with many people on the romney campaign, this is total b.s. >> even if sarah palin is on another cable news network advising romney and ryan to go rogue using that very phrase? >> if she does that -- >> there are people out there who listen to her, certainly tea party act vitss across the country that are listening to her and people who want to see romney and ryan win this election. so is that bad advice coming from the go rogue artist hess? >> terrible advice. we need to put a united front, they need to come together, which i believe they're doing the paul ryan has done over 150 interviews since announced as vice presidential candidate as opposed to joe biden who has only one one, which is new york magazine, which is not going to swing swing voters, as far as i'm concerned. no, i don't believe that's good advice at all. she can give advice all day long but going rogue is not good advice. >> romney will be more like paul ryan as we saw on that one campaign stop, the crowd
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cheering ryan, ryan, ryan. mitt romney had to correct him at who is at the top of the ticket. is there any way to avoid the tension when the vp candidate potentially overshadows the top of the ticket? >> no. i think roger simon was on to something when he talked about the campaign not going well. i don't have any personal knowledge that there's bad blood between ryan and romney, but there had been signing of trouble there. there were signs of trouble right away. remember when mitt romney went a little rogue himself on the subject of libya and essentially accused the president of treason. that's going way out on limb there. the vice president's job is to go right on that limb with him and cover the president's pack. but he didn't do that. he let mitt romney hang out there on his own. if there's a problem here, i imagine it has to do with ambition. that's what roger simon was touching on. paul ryan was supposed to bring excitement to the romney campaign. instead he brought a lot of pants on fire ratings from the
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fact checkers. mitt romney was supposed to be paul ryan's ticket to the white house but things aren't going so well and paul ryan is probably thinking i've got a mill stone around my neck. this isn't going to help me for 2016 at all. if there is bad blood between them, that's what it is. they're separate ambitions are not being satisfied by one another. >> certainly that springtime appearance in florida that was secretly recorded is not doing the ticket any faye vors and now the obama campaign is out with this new ad that's going to be playing in a lot of different states, particularly in colorado, florida, nevada, new hampshire, ohio, virginia, and in iowa. let's take a look. >> i approve this message. >> 47% of the people who believe they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe they are entitled to
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health care, to housing, to you name it. and they will vote for this president no matter what. and so my job is not to worry about those people. they should take responsibility and care of their lives. >> so there's that ad. they're playing mitt romney's words but faces, meghan, real life americans over the people that he's talking about. we keep saying 40 days until election day but we're living in election day right now. in that period, swing state voting of iowa has begun. early voting has began in other places. how damning is an ad like that? >> it's the 11th hour. my biggest complaint with the romney campaign is they need to do an ad as reaction to that, to completely show the complete delineation between what a romney president will look lake and what an obama president will look like. they need to make it clear, concise, and easy for people to digest which they haven't done. i hope they go back with that that is easy for people to understand. >> do you think the obama campaign, because polling is
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showing that they are getting stronger in certain areas, certain swing states, do you think that they risk being over confident with 40 days to go as meghan says, it is the 11th hour but there's still a lot of time. >> i suspect that they will not be over-confident. i think they know there's plenty of time left. i think they know there are debates left here and it could be decisive if one or the other candidate makes a big gaffe. i don't think over-confidence is going to be the problem here. not at all. not for the obama campaign, no. >> something we agree on. >> look at that. i like consensus. meghan mccain -- >> thomas, congratulations on your wedding before we go, by the way. >> i know. >> i had no idea you were getting married on saturday. >> i know. congratulations. >> thank you. >> he's off the market, ladies. gentlemen. so sad. >> ladies and gentlemen whoever is watching. meghan, thanks so much. >> i've been married 32 years, tom. it's not so bad. >> no, no, we've already been together 12.
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i feel like we're on the right path. thank you. >> ladies and gentlemen and gentlemen. >> we will see you meghan mccain on saturday. as we talk about the damage from the 47% comments a very personal look at just who makes up that section of america. we just saw how the president's campaign is putting a face on those remarks in that new ad that is now showing in certain parts of the country. joining me is author lauren who wrote a powerful op-ed entitled "i was a welfare mother" accounting for her own time on assistance and romney's comments about 47%. it's great to have you here. you talked about your family's time on assistance as when you realized that you and your son needed this help to get by and to build a better life. the safety net that you needed to springboard back. can you tell me what it was like for you to come to 2k3wri7s with your yourself having to sign up for the very first time for that kind of assistance? >> it was very hard. i was very disappointed in
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myself. i had always worked. i had had jobs where i did very well. and it was hard on me to see how hard it was on my parents who weren't in a position to help at that point. it wasn't easy. it got easier as i met more people, not more -- put more people who are in the same position as i was but people at the university of new hampshire and social workers who were so dedicated to help us get through the programs and help us learn to be better moms to our kids. it got easier. it really did get easier. in the beginning it was not. >> in the piece you wrote you called yourself profoundly grateful for the help you received. applying for government benefits was contactually that, a way of taking responsibility for myself and my son during a difficult time in our lives. those resources kept us going for four years. anyone waiting for me to apologize shouldn't hold his breath. what was your initial gut reaction as you've been able to
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hear how those comments by mitt romney now played out in reference to the campaign he's run and what it means about him saying for those, the 47%, not taking personal responsibility for their lives? >> i have to say that when i first red the remarks and saw the video that went viral, i was incredibly sad. it took me a couple of day to really get mad but i was very, very sad. i know how hard the mothers and fathers on these programs work. i know statistics break out and that people on assistance or who don't pay income taxes as he was saying specific about, aren't all on welfare. i have a lot of people i love dearly who are legitimately on social security, who take medica medicare. i have two nephews deployed now and deployed at war, service doesn't pay income tax.
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we pay a lot of other taxes. we pay sales tax. we pay gas as it goes up. the idea that the percentage is made up of weak or lazy or uncaring or automatic obama voter, either, i mean, all of that is just wrong. it's just wrong. i think he realized that pretty quickly. >> if you could say one thing, though, to either president obama or to mitt romney as they wage this battle against the 47% they both fight to see who is more empathetic to that part of our country, what would you say? >> i -- i don't think that it's a matter of seeming more empathetic. i want to hear policy. i want to see changes. i don't want to see pell grants cut. if anything, they should be increased. i don't want to see medicare or medicaid threatened for people i love and people i don't know but i know rely on those programs.
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we need help. all of us need help at some time or another. some of us need it more than others and more than once. but because we need help doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with our moral character. >> larkin warren. larkin, thanks for joining me today. i appreciate it. >> thank you. congratulation sdpls thank you. thank you. i appreciate that. a touchdown for nfl referees, they are back to work tonight after reaching a tentative labor deal. plus, major league outing. kevin mcclachy talks about his decision to come out of the closet and what it was like battling homophobia at the top of pro sports. you can find me on facebook. we're back after this. we've all had those moments.
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pregnant women expose to the air pollution may be putting their unborn child at risk. data from a new study shows that newborns exposed to air pollution through their mothers had a higher risk for vitamin d deficiencies than those not exposed. the association was strongest when exposure occurred during the third trimester. welcome back. as we told you this morning we've got these dueling campaign events going on this morning in virginia. the battleground state there. this is the second day in a row that we've seen these dueling events, different background stops today. it is in old dominion. mitt romney is just getting under way, veterans american region post 176. president obama is going to be in virginia beach at an amphitheater there with about 20,000 people. at least that's what they say the amphitheater holds. we do know the president is running behind schedule. 13 electoral votes up for grabs. recent polling showing president
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obama with a slight lead and early voting is under way. we'll continue to listen in and see if anything interesting pops up from these events and we'll bring it for you right more. president obama is bringing the course of happy football fan ace cross the country as real refs of the nfl return to the field. last night the league ironed out a new eight-year collective bargaining agreement that leaves the guys in stripes with a sweet deal. white house press secretary jay carney saying president obama is very pleased and called this deal a great day for america. now, robinson care of nbc sports will talk with me about this. rob, what a difference 24 hours make. tell us about this deal and what do the refs get out of it? >> well, thomas, first of all, the refs get most of what they wanted. they are getting more money for starters. they're going to be making within a few years up to $200,000 a year for what is actually a part-time job. so pretty good deal for them. they also get to keep their pensions for the current refs. sunset the pension system and go to a 401(k) system within a few
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years. but all the current refs get to keep their pension. that's the good news for them. the nfl on the other hand, they get a little bit more control over the quality of refereeing. they get to add some additional referees who they can call up once in a while. the nfl gets to add some full-time officials they can work with all year long. that's one of the things they wanted. so it was a compromise but i say the refs did well and you would expect them to do well after the debacle. >> have we gone full circle to see the refs back on the field with the ravens tonight against the cleveland browns because the ravens, that field goal kick was really the thing that started this split of all this. >> i tell you what, i knew you were a ravens fan. >> yeah. >> i think tonight we're going to see something you will never see again in an nfl game. a standing ovation for the referees when they take the field in baltimore tonight. the real referees, because obviously fans have been really tired. the people in baltimore were happy the replacement refs ruled a call in their favor. >> at home.
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it's a good thing. it was a good thing they were in charm city for that. thank you. good to have you here again. meantime, in baseball, there's a recent display of homophobia that has bot ten a t lot of attention. it inspired some good conversations. after suspending him for three days without pay the team decided to split escobar's salary between two lgb tv rights groups you can play and gay and lesbian alliance against defamation. earlier this week i interviewed former pittsburgh pirate's owner kevin mcclatchy by coming out of the closet. he lived in that for years. and here's a portion of the interview. >> why now, why would you decide to make such a personal revelation public? >> well, you know, i think everybody has that time when they feel comfortable and, for me, that time had come while i was in baseball there was a lot of challenges in front of the franchise and i never really
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felt that telling my story at that time was going to help the franchise. things were tenuous. we were trying to keep the team in pittsburgh and get the funding to build the new ballpark to ensure the team would be there for years. so after getting out of the game and spending some time doing some other things, i felt it was the right time. time. i think it's hopefully going to be helpful to other folks that are trying to, you know, get in sports or think that there's some ceiling why they can't. >> kevin, a lot of people have described what you were living through, basically living in the closet, a game of cloak and dagger, to keep people at bay and to keep people not asking too many personal questions. but in the sports world, was there a greater pressure for you to remain at bay, isolated from people getting to know you, especially when we think of you being at the top of the ticket, a franchise owner? >> it was a subject never
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brought up when i was in baseball and never talked. to me, it was clear that it was so what of a -- a taboo issue you couldn't really discuss. you know, i -- as i say i had my concerns about the franchise, making sure the pirates stayed in pittsburgh. i didn't feel it was my time when i got into the game to discuss the issue. >> you have made a point to say that there was a time in your part, during your ownership, that someone had threatened to out you. that is something that you had to live with day in and day out, the fear that somebody would actually do that to you to try to bring you down or embarrass you or the team in some way? >> it was a constant fear you lived with, you were sort of on eggshells really for the 12 years or so i was in the game, i was, you know, constantly nervous that somebody would find
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out and in some way that would bring my involve mement down an most important hurt the team. it's a pretty frightening experience and you definitely feel isolated, you feel alone and that's not a great place. my hope is that any kid coming forward in 2012 will not have to have that silence with their family or their friends or anybody else because you know i'm hoping we've progressed quite a bit as a society. but i think sports needs to do a better job than it's done. you know the fact in 40 years, not one professional athlete in any of the major four sports has come out. that does say sports -- sports have a long way to go as far as four major sports and hopefully this will continue the dialogue that rick welts and other folks have done a good job of putting out there but there's still a ways to go. >> thanks to kevin mcclatchy.
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more from that interview online, including his thoughts on how the league can help lgbt youth. check out my twitter feed with more with kevin. empty nesters and boomers are a big growth market for the cruise line industry. aarp has great tips on staying healthy on the high seas, avoid seasickness, prescribe anti-nausea medication before leaving. the sun is stronger at sea, use a high spf sunblock. wash hands before meals, eat only thoroughly cooked foods. this is rudy. his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol.
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welcome back, everybody. we keep our eye on dueling campaign events taking place in virginia today on the right of your screen, mitt romney is now addressing veterans at an american legion post in springfield, virginia, and on the left of your screen we're awaiting president obama, who is going be to attending a grassroots event at farm bureau live, that's an amphitheater in virginia beach. both men courting the military vote today in the state of virginia. that's going to wrap things up for me.
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"now" is straight ahead. >> we are doing anti-rain dances to make sure you have blue skies for your big day saturday. congratulations in advance, my friend. >> no rain, no rain, no rain. >> only sunny skies to bless that union. we'll miss you. >> thanks. >> on friday. on our big day today, president obama and governor romney deliver another round of dueling speeches but the governor's offering dueling ideas with himself. examine the latest foray into mixed messaging. "the new york times" david leonhardt explains why tax cuts don't lead to economic growth but have a hand in the growing gap in income in equal. as prime minister benjamin netanyahu gets set to address the united nations we'll discuss u.s. foreign policy. all that in a mere 180 seconds. we're sitting on a bunch of shale gas.
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